Liam's Birth Story, part 2

{{{Part 1 of Liam's birth story is here.}}}

After helping Crew in the bathroom I asked him if he peed the bed, something we've come to expect.

" Nope! I not pee the bed", he replied.

" Oh, good!! It's going to be a GREAT day!"

And with those words, I bent down to help him find cloths to wear to preschool.

****gush*****

What. The. Heck.

There was definitely a gush of something, but not a lot. Certainly not an entire bag of amniotic fluid, I thought to myself. Maybe I peed my pants? In pregnancy, everything is possible, including peeing one's pants. I couldn't see beneath my pregnant belly; heck, it had MONTHS since I could! Maneuvering to check out what just happened felt like an Olympic sport. I waddled into my bathroom, threw off my shorts to investigate and took this picture:

I admit to smelling the shorts {{ew, I'm disgusting}} to rule out peeing my pants; it definitely wasn't urine. I sat down on the toilet, in complete disbelief, unsure what to do next. As I sat down, more warm water came gushing out.

Crap.

This was the moment I knew for certain that my water broke, or at least was partially broken. My head was swirling with all the reasons why we were not ready to have this baby. A new car hadn't been purchased. Our vacuum was broken. Freezer meals weren't prepared. Rodney had a cold. I hadn't completed my Hypnobabies course. Heck, his bassinet wasn't even set up. And, oh my goodness, he would be 37 weeks! Barely 37 weeks at that. 

I reluctantly sent a text to my midwife, because doing so meant this was actually happening. Unprepared as we were, he was coming.

7:19am

Me: Went to bend down to help my son, felt a warm gush. Pretty sure my water broke. When I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet more warm water came out. I have a pad on now and feel more warm water trickling out.

Midwife: Ok. Any contractions?

Me: No

Midwife: That's ok. It will change. Rest up and drink. How's the little one? And are you seeing any pink or red?

Me: I woke up not long ago and he was super active. There's some pink when I wipe.

Midwife: Ok, fantastic. Lets give it one hour and see if you start contracting.  My guess is that we're going to be having a birthday today :) Remember, we were hoping you would go a little bit slower this time :)  Easy, slow and peaceful. And it's a fabulous day for a birthday party :)

Me: Lol. Yes! The great news is that Esther adjusted me yesterday and really worked on my round ligaments.

Midwife: Well isn't that just perfect. I'm so happy for you.

My midwife knew my history with Crew. He came fast and furious and with barely enough time for a midwife to get there. One of my concerns was another incredibly fast birth with nobody to help me. For this reason, I am grateful my water broke. It alerted me that, yes, you're going to have a baby so get ready.

And get ready I did. I called Rod as I began pacing around the house, overwhelmed by how much still needed to get done.

7:21am

I was surprised that Rod answered immediately. I knew he was at the hospital, finishing his shift. Through my tears I told him my water broke.

Rod: What? 

Silence.

Rod: Vanessa, are you serious? 

Enter meltdown.

Me: Yes. I'm serious! And we're not reeeeaaaaaady! The house is a war zone. He doesn't even have a name. We're going to STARVE because no freezer meals are ready. I don't even think we have milk in the fridge right now.  And he's soo young! And my vaccum is broke! Everything is just a disaster. And you're SICK. And I'm.... (unintelligible cry-talking)....

Rod: Baby, it's ok. It will be ok. I'm coming home.

We got off the phone and I made the decision that Crew would stay home from pre-school. I didn't know when contractions would start, and didn't want to risk taking him and having to drive through contractions. However, because Paxton's school is literally around the corner, I decided he would go. After all, the walking could be useful for labor (and it was!). 

I started frantically waddling around the house because, of course, it was a disaster. I first started with the dishes, but as soon as I bent down to put a plate in the dishwasher, more water came out, soaking through my pad and pants. I rummaged through my massive birth kit, realizing even a heavy duty pad wouldn't do the trick. And there it was. My package of adult diapers. No, I'm not kidding. Diapers.


It's go time. Good thing I have my diapers, I thought to myself. I put it on and began walking when I noticed my diaper was making the all-too-familiar diaper squeaky sound. If you've had a baby, you know the sound.

So there I was. In a diaper. A very squeaky diaper.

To Be Continued